Baumann and Kohr set contrasting records as Mainz end Hoffenheim's winning streak | OneFootball

All the attention at the start of the game was on Oliver Baumann as the German international made his 500th Bundesliga appearance. Only fellow goalkeeper Manuel Neuer reached this historic tally from currently active players in the league.

However, Robin Zentner was the one who had to be alert at the beginning of the game with Hoffenheim continuing where they left off before the international break. Andrej Kramarić’s effort from a tight angle was the first decent chance of the game.

Before their first shot on target, the visitors go ahead with Andreas Hanche-Olsen beating his own goalkeeper in his desperate attempt to block Fisnik Asllani from meeting Wouter Burger’s long-range cross. Mainz immediately threatened to equalize, but Benedict Hollerbach failed to keep his shot on target.

Both teams struggled to fashion clear-cut chances for the rest of the half. Zentner saved Asllani’s tame effort, while a miscommunication between Baumann and Bernardo nearly caused another self-inflicted goal at the other end.

The Brazilian defender was also fortunate to escape a straight red card for an elbow on Silvan Widmer. Mainz’s captain and Lennard Maloney had to give up their places for Sota Kawasaki and Danny da Costa at the start of the second-half.

Similar to the start of the game, Hollerbach blasted it wide from Mainz’s first real chance after the restart. A couple of minutes later, Phillipp Mwene went for power instead of precision from close range.

Paul Nebel was the next to come the closest with a free header, but he was also unable to force Baumann into a save on his special day. Mainz performed much better than the first 45 minutes, while Hoffenheim’s in-form attackers also upped their game.

Tim Lemperle had two clear-cut chances in the space of a couple of minutes, but Zentner and Da Costa denied him with last-ditch clearances. Meanwhile, Hollerbach remained at the heart of Mainz’s attacks even after Nelson Wiper’s introduction.

Mainz’s equalizer came from the unlikeliest of sources, however. Hollerbach’s attempt from Nadiem Amiri's corner-kick was blocked, but Da Costa was there to put the hosts level with a powerful hit. The 32-year-old last scored a goal in Eintracht Frankfurt’s narrow defeat to Bayern Munich in a 2019-20 DFB-Pokal semi-final tie.

The late drama was far from over, though. If it was impossible to guess Mainz’s goal scorer, the opposite was true when they were reduced to ten men in the 87th minute. Dominik Kohr saw his ninth Bundesliga red card for a horrible challenge on Burger. In the process, Kohr beat the previous record of eight by the ex-Hoffenheim midfielder Luiz Gustavo.

Yet, somehow, Mainz finished the game strongly with their best chance falling into Kaishū Sano. Hoffenheim also thought they won it courtesy of the substitute Ilhas Bebou, but the goal was chalked off for a previous handball.

Hoffenheim’s winning streak ended with the draw, while Mainz will hope to replicate their second-half performance in next week’s game in Freiburg. Christian Ilzer’s side will host FC Augsburg on matchday 12.